Tampa church directed
staffers to make political contributions

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Posted on Wednesday, April 02,
2008 10:07 PM PT

Updated April 4, 2008 6:35pm

By
the NBC News Investigative Unit

A Tampa
megachurch under scrutiny by Senate investigators directed church
staffers to make political contributions to a Republican
gubernatorial candidate, according to documents obtained by NBC
News.

A month-long
NBC News investigation also found information indicating that the
church's pastor, Randy White, seems to have lied about a business
transaction in a deposition made under oath, and misrepresented his
religious academic credentials.

Church
directed political contributions?
NBC News obtained an e-mail (some identifying pieces of
information in the e-mail have been removed by NBC) in which a
Without Walls church staff member reporting to the Whites appears to
direct other staffers to make political contributions to a
Republican candidate for governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, who won
the gubernatorial race later that year.

In the e-mail
in 2006, the staffer writes, "Per our recent conversations…This is
just a reminder that I need each of your checks for $500 made
payable to: Charlie Crist for Governor. I need to send these
our [sic] tonight."

Florida state
election records list several $500 donations to Crist dated days
later, from individuals listed as recipients in the e-mail. A
spokesman for Gov. Crist told NBC News in an e-mail that neither the
governor nor his campaign staff was aware that the Whites' church
may have directed such donations to Crist's 2006 campaign.

The IRS
prohibits tax-exempt churches from "directly or indirectly
participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on
behalf of any candidate for elective public office." Without
Walls International Church declined to respond to NBC News'
questions about the e-mail.

[Update 04/04/08
6:35pm: On Friday, attorneys representing the Whites sent NBC News a
new statement. "It is our understanding," the statement reads, "that
no political contributions were solicited on behalf of the Church.
If individuals solicited contributions for a particular candidate on
their own behalf, they would have been doing so just as people who
support a particular candidate would do in any organization – asking
among their friends and colleagues at work."]

Church
pastor lied about business deal under oath?NBC News also obtained copies of audio recordings and
documents which strongly suggest that Randy White lied under oath
when testifying about a 2002 business deal.

Todd Bates, a
pilot and aircraft broker who owns Motor City Aviation near Detroit,
sued the Whites' church in 2002 because, he says, Randy White
reneged on a verbal deal he made to purchase a used corporate jet
Bates had found for the church.

In a deposition
taken under oath as part of the case in 2002, White testifies that
he never told Bates he would buy the airplane, and that he in fact
never spoke to Bates by phone. Here are excerpts from the
deposition:

BATES'
ATTORNEY: "You never had a conversation on the phone with Mr. Bates
where you told him, I'm buying the airplane?"

RANDY WHITE:
"Correct."

BATES'
ATTORNEY: "You never were on the phone with Mr. Bates at all, to
your recollection?"

RANDY WHITE:
"Correct."

Then, a few
moments later:

BATES: "So
would it be fair to say that if, in fact, you did, say, have a [sic]
conversations with Mr. Bates on the phone and did say those words to
Mr. Bates, you're a liar?"

RANDY WHITE: "I
don't lie."

At the time of
the
deposition, Bates says, Randy White was unaware that Bates had
recorded his telephone calls with White regarding the plane deal.
Bates provided copies of these recordings to NBC News. In a
recording dated May 2002, Randy White seems to agree to buy the
plane.

TODD BATES:
"If what you're telling me is, that you want this aircraft, and you
want to do it, I will handle it for you, I will put together all of
the details, and it will be dealt with, and it will be dealt with
quickly, efficiently and then I will come down there and set up your
flight department and get everything set up with your lease-back
hours and everything like I said."

RANDY WHITE:
"Cool. That's where we want to go with it."

TODD BATES:
"...if you're telling me -- as you being the head honcho, top dog at
Without Walls -- that this is the deal, then you and me as
Christians and whatever are agreeing that we've got a deal, then
we've got a deal and we'll work out the details later."

TODD BATES: "I assure you that there's nobody else I would have done
this for. Except, I would've thought that a pastor of a large
church gives me his word that he's buying an airplane -- I didn't
think I had to worry about anything else."

RANDY WHITE:
"Right. Well, it's not that I was lying to you. At that
time I was buying the airplane, but a better deal came along."

"I was
stunned," Bates told NBC in an interview, "at the amount of lies and
misrepresentations."

Bates settled
with the Whites' church for an undisclosed sum. Since
then he has pursued a public Internet campaign to discredit the
Whites as frauds.

Church
pastor misrepresented academic credentials?Bates provided NBC News documentation supporting another of
his claims: that Randy White has lied about his academic
credentials. In preparation for his lawsuit, Bates researched
Randy White's background. He wrote to two schools Randy White
had claimed awarded him degrees, asking them to verify the degrees.
In correspondence, both schools specifically denied awarding Randy
White degrees.

While Bates
provided the saved Web page to NBC News, NBC News independently
confirmed its authenticity, finding the exact same text stored on an
archived version of the church's Web site.

A
representative from Lee University
told Bates in a 2002 e-mail that Randy White "was only here for
two classes and then left during our Fall semester of 1975. He
did not graduate from our institution with a degree of any kind…"

In his
deposition in the lawsuit brought by Bates,
White admits he obtained no degree from Lee, but claims he
attended for two years. In response to another question, he
claims he received an honorary degree in "Humane Letters" from
Virginia State University in recognition of his church work.

A
representative from Virginia State University
told Bates in a 2002 letter that Randy White's name did not
appear on its list of honorary degree recipients from 1935-2002.

NBC News
double-checked with both academic institutions. While federal
law has changed since Bates' inquiries, and now prohibits schools
from acknowledging any information without students' permissions,
neither school denied the validity or accuracy of the correpondence
Bates provided NBC News. Elizabeth Gearhart, a staff member in
the Registrar's office at Lee University, told NBC News in an email
that "Bishop White has requested that no information regarding him
be released from our institution."

The Whites
declined to be interviewed by NBC News or to answer repeated
questions about these issues. They have denied wrongdoing,
stating: "We take our financial responsibilities to our partners
very seriously and to the best of our knowledge we comply with all
tax laws."

Last month,
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking member of the Senate Finance
Committee, told NBC News that the Whites had agreed to cooperate
with the committee's investigation. On Monday, a Senate Finance
Committee staffer issued a memorandum saying it had received an
intitial submission of information regarding the Whites' church.

At the same
time, attorneys for the Whites' church
issued a new statement saying "the Church is committed to
complying with the requests of those governmental entities lawfully
entitled to receive what they seek" and that church representatives
"expect to have further dialogue with the Senator's office."

Linda
Fecteau and Luke Mayo contributed to this report.

Comments(these are comments of persons who read the article on
the NBC website)

The person who said that Jesus never
was involved in politics should read their Bible. He may not held
political office, but he ran in those circles as well as places
other sinners hung out too. As for the White's salaries not being
taxed, it is the church that is exempt, not the Pastors that are
exempt. Not all ministries are corrupt, but the ones that are
should take note. I know for a fact that many Christians have been
praying for years that corruption in all areas, business, politics,
churches be revealed. What is hidden in the dark (secret) will come
to light. Notice almost daily corruption is being revealed in the
media.

Read the bible with modern eyes. About
half of the ten commandments are all about keeping the priests well
fed without competition.
Those are not temples of God. They are franchises.
Yes there is God,but I don't believe God is in most 'churches'.
Being a priest or 'preacher' is good work if you have the stomach
for feeding on another's faith.

All you sinless people are so perfect!
If you find a perfect church, don't join or you will mess it up!!!
We really need to put down our rocks and let God do the judging.
There is good and evil in all and if there were no churches, evil
would certainly be more prevalent than it is now. As for Obama, he
isn't the only candidate to ever set foot in a church to campaign.
They all do it. The problem occurs when the church openly promotes
one candidate over the others. Know your facts before spewing your
venimous hatred! I hope you never need prayer from any of the people
you have such disdain for. Then again, they hated Jesus too and
crucified him for only doing good. DE from Syracuse is
right...HATERS!!!

to say that organized religion is
total hypocrisy is nuts. there are countless christians and
churches who read an embarassing article like this and it makes them
just as mad and sick as everyone else. there are hypocrites in the
churches, just like there are hypocrites outside the church. if
guilty of this stuff, the White's need to be punished. I am a
Christian minister myself. This kind of [stuff] ticks me off just
like everyone else. Some people try to get rich off of Jesus. Many
other people are genuine and authentic in their worship of Christ.
Don't lump everybody together. That's weak.

The MegaChurches particularly abuse
the money and should be heavily audited and monitored to insure that
the money they get is going to the places they say they are going
to. Joel Olsteen and the Lakewood Church should be reviewed next
and then Willow Creek in Illinois. Too much power does corrupt and
there is also a perception that the megachurches views speak for all
Christians. They are hijacking Jesus and distorting His principles
and sadly giving Christianity a name it really doesn't deserve.

The 1st ammendment only guarantees the
freedom to practice your religion. If monies collected are not used
for charitable causes, then that money is taxable income just like
the money that I collect from my customers in return for the goods
or service that I provide. I pay income tax on the money that I use
to pay for my shelter and food for my family and an airplane if I
choose to buy one and churches should as well. Get with it IRS, do
your job and start making these scofflaws pay up.

Read the bible with modern eyes. About
half of the ten commandments are all about keeping the priests well
fed without competition.
Those are not temples of God. They are franchises.
Yes there is God,but I don't believe God is in most 'churches'.
Being a priest or 'preacher' is good work if you have the stomach
for feeding on another's faith.

Hey, guys! The truth is that Man
created God. god did not create Man. You will understand this only
if you respect facts and are not foolishly committed to relying
purely on "faith" that requires you to believe every single thing in
an ancient book written when only one person in a thousand could
both read and write.

Think! You can do it - if your god gave you the brains to be able
to do it - i.e., you aren't one of the "sheep" that Chrisianity
wants you to be.

Hey, guys! The truth is that Man
created God. god did not create Man. You will understand this only
if you respect facts and are not foolishly committed to relying
purely on "faith" that requires you to believe every single thing in
an ancient book written when only one person in a thousand could
both read and write.

Think! You can do it - if your god gave you the brains to be able
to do it - i.e., you aren't one of the "sheep" that Chrisianity
wants you to be.

Randy and Paula White are predators.
They prey on many kinds of people; those who are lost, hopeless,
sick, desperate for relief or redemption. They prey on the elderly,
the homebound, the lonely and poor. They tout their line of vitamins
by proclaiming,"God WANTS you to buy our vitamins." Then they tool
around in the Rolls Royce that God apparently wanted them to buy
with the proceeds. Does the license plate really read "Big Daddy"?
Seriously, that's what I heard from someone who lives in Tampa.
Anyway, the only lives these two are improving are their own. Any
question as to their conscience or as to what GOD would think of all
of this is moot. Has their goal ever been to positively impact the
spiritual lives of those searching or to provide for their fellow
man? Does anyone truly believe that while walking around the Rolls
and kicking the tires that Paula and Randy White asked themselves
(or each other); I wonder how many four year old children we could
send to pre-school on this sticker price? or...How many young
mothers could we sponsor to attend parenting classes? or...How many
houses could Habitat For Humanity build? They are con artists of the
highest order which relegates them to a status that ranks so low
that I am at a loss to categorize it within the animal
kingdom...even the lowly earthworm has a vital task that
necessitates it's existence...it turns manure into fertilizer.
Granted, the Whites turn their manure into gold, but that nifty
trick serves only to benefit them. Jackie Carmean, Milford, DE

a comment, that our Savior is close to
returning.I beg to differ, Messiah is not going to return as a
wizard, and save us from ourselves on earth. Messiah will only
return, once we have all allowed the freedom of the holy spirit to
guide us mind, body and spirit.Other words if we are capable of
walking in the WILL of our Creator in a Christ like way of life,and
don't look for him to come AGAIN and rescue us from our sinful
nature, only then will Messiah return.Remember what he said: after
being beaten, and falsly accused, Father forgive them for they know
NOT what they do,it is FINISHED. we remain corupt, and continue to
condone murder, and killing fields in the name of religion
The kingdom of God is within, perhaps all of you above critical of
the whites know this to be true, I believe there are many who have
grown disqusted by organized religion and the horrifying display of
a well oiled jesus they are marketing. That along with fear, keeps
them wealthy with power...which is a Big dust storm in the wind.
The bright side is their coruption, has refined many truly loving
closet believers(without religion). Just like the politician's who
are corupt, the revealing dross is floating Love you! Grandma Moses,
Columbia, Oregon

First of all, All Pastors, Bishops,
Reverands, etc. have a duty to preach the Word of God!! Secondly, if
that means teaching against abortion, against homosexuality,
whatever is against the Word of God. Then they better do what God
called them to do. By the way, there is always two sides to a story.
Sounds like Bates got mad and jealous and decided to say something
that shouldn't even be acknowledged. People don't get mad if Donald
Trump decides to go with a better deal!! Pastors and Evangelists
should have nice things and spreading the Gospel costs a lot of
money. Read the Bible people! Jesus rode on a virgin donkey; back
then that was like a brand new really expensive car. Jesus had a
robe with no hems...you couldn't even find something like that today
without paying a hefty price. People need to stop acting like
Christians should be poor. You can't help people if you have no
money!! Everyone needs to stop worrying about other people and "work
out their own salvation!" That means if you were to die; where would
you go??? Just because people don't think or believe in Heaven or
Hell doesn't mean that they don't exist. I can't see oxygen..doesn't
mean that it doesn't exist. I know for a fact that Kenneth Copeland,
Benny Hinn, Jesse Duplantis Ministries are NOT fraudulant!!!! If
people minded their own business, they wouldn't have time to mind
someone else's."Judge Not, lest thou be judged" It is not up to us,
it's up to God. You reap what you sow. If you sow judgement...you
will reap it; whether on Earth or when you die. Just something to
think about.

the concept of non profit,is the tool
of coruption. Self appointed wealth and power, and all they have to
do is stand at any podium and preach on what they THINK G-d THINKs,
and ask for money to pay for what they THINK G-d wants.. They built
a megachurch on preaching properity, it is a megachurch, because the
members are there for the same reason as the preachers...money
defining G-d in any way shape or form, will never end well, Love
you! Grandma Moses, Columbia, Oregon

Read your bible, in the New Testament,
God says all of this will happen.....And if they are not doing right
by God, he will take care of it....it is not for us to judge or
condemn them. I agree with Joyce.....it is all coming to the end.

"Let God be God and His enemies be
scattered" for
God just wants the Gospel preached to all nations
no matter what race they are. But, taking money
from a church coffer is stealing from God's own
money. Tithe is given to the church to keep it going and to save
souls most of all. Jesus said,"Render unto Ceasar what is Ceasar's
and unto God what is God's." He said nothing about
giving to a political party or anything about a
Sheep Director (Pastor) letting a church buy Him
an Airplane with the funds collected by the church. But, He did say
something about helping the poor, widows, etc. Too many Pastors are
trying
to make a name for themselves rather than feeding
their own flock what they really need.... The unabridged Word of
God. "Let God be God and His enemies be scattered." The Whites are
only a small part of the problems in religion today. How about the
controlling Retreats sponsored by churhes today which change
personalities of some of their members to keep them from being able
to
really be themselves. These retreats have changed many of my old
friends in ways that even Jesus would be ashamed.
Contolling people to keep them in a certain church is not the way to
keep ones flock. Feed them the Word of God and they will know how to
control themselves in a way that is pleasing to God and to the
church. Feeding the flock the Word
is the only way people can learn how to be good examples to people
who are unchurched. Too many of Pastors are feeding the church
Psychology or lead by a Psychologist instead of a Bible Believing
Pastor. We find many churches will not hire someone with real
credentials...they just seem to want the ones with an Edge so they
can use them for their own selfish desires. But, we can still find
Pastors who are still doing a good job getting souls saved and
preaching the Word as they should. So, don't let's throw out the
good with the bad.
J.Shattuck, Anderson, S.C.

There are so many more lies to
uncover. I hope someone does a complete investigation into the
background of both Randy and Paula White. Their actual history is
quite different from the version they created and preached from the
pulpit. I encourage people to investigate the truth about their
lives in Frederick, MD before they left their respective spouses and
ran away to Florida to set up their sham church.

This nation was established w/ the
intent of being a safe haven for people of christian faith. how is
it then that we've created new rules to govern our lives when God
and the Bible already had it in place? The people want a free life,
apart from God and his rules. Let them govern themselves. But now
that those that are called out of the world will return to the law
of God and live by it THRU faith. Jesus is not of this world... just
like he overcame it thru obedience, listening to the Father, AND
DEATH, so shall we. die to this world so you can live. The law
brings death (whether this world's or the next), its the Spirit of
God you need. Galatians 3:24, Galatians 5:16-18, Matthew 16:24-28,
Romans 1:1-32, Revelations 12:11, 1 Peter 4:1-2, 1 John 4:4, Hebrews
5:7-9, 2 Timothy 3:1-9, Acts 20:28-30, Galatians 6:7-10, 2 Peter
3:1-14, Romans 6:14, Ephesians 2:8....

The public has been duped into
believeing these so called "churches" are churches at all. they are
not recognized by law as churches because they gave up the headship
of the Lord Jesus Christ to get favors from the government, namely
tax exemption through the 501(c)(3) status. when they do that they
agree to abide by IRS rules and state laws governing corporations.
They at the same time subordinate the "church" to the state and come
under it's authority, a position christians have historically been
persecuted for not submitting to going back to the days of Rome when
roman catholicism merged pagan beliefs and practices of the day with
the then persecuted church. it was a compromise born from Hell and
resisted by all true christians through out history. The 501(c)(3)
was invented by a devious criminal christian hater who hated the
ministries that were exposing him for the immoral criminal he was
when he ran for the senate. He later became president his name was
Lyndon Baines Johnson. True churches will never submit the church
under government control because it can not. Christ is the head of
the true Church. The churches Inc. as they should more honestly be
called have agreed when they incorporated and got their 501(c)(3)
status to rules the states and the IRS made as a condition of their
tax exempt status and if they violate them they should go to prison
for it and exposed for what they really are, CREATIONS OF THE STATE
not God. Jesus Christ said "I will build my church and the gates of
Hell will not prevail against it", he didn't say the state would
build it. These have sold their birthright for a mess of pottage,
they sold out to the world, the world sees it and despises their
hypocrisy. The true church gave up their birthright of being tax
immune for a mere privlege of tax exemption. One is a right given to
the church by God the other is a privelege given by the state rights
are forever, priveleges are conditional and temporary (at the whim
of the state that created them). They (churches INC.) violated their
ungodly agreements and should be held accountable. Their greed has
nothing to do with true Christianity and I believe prevent many from
receiving the truth of the gospel.

If you truly are a professor, you would understand that law is
derived from morals. Morality must be legislated to have a truly
free society. While unchurched people may have a solid moral system,
it is usually based on a moral system (whether conscious or
subconscious) derived from a particular religion. Without religion,
sir, there are no laws; there is only anarchy.

Why is it ok for Hip hop entertainers
Football,Basketball players Hollywood, Wall street CEO's actually
anybody but a pastor have a right to take people money without all
the uproar.This country is about to deflate because of the mortgage
crisis and I do not hear any of these negative comment addressing
this issue. Many family were sucked into loan they could not pay.
Why are we not hearing people voice their disdain for what has
happened to millions of people in this country and counting. Are you
as ready to judge the mortgage brokers as you are to judge
pastors.These people actually took financial wellbeing from many
families and many may never recover. Be careful about wanting these
pastors to be exposed, fined or sent to jail because life has a
strange way of exposing our sins.

Without Walls congregation it's your responsiblity to kick this
spirit out of your church. Stand up to these two and save your
church. God will bless you for it!

If you don't know what the Jezebel spirit is....write to me lisa@pure-face.com....or
read "Unmasking the Jezebel spirit.

Don't forget....David had five stones to kill Goliath. One stone
for Goliath and four stones his four brothers.

You only have two people to deal with. Save Without Walls and kick
this evil spirit out!!!!

It's Your Responsiblity - Intercessory Pray is needed to bind this
spirit and kick it out!! You have the authority in the name of Jesus
Christ and HIS BLOOD already made it done deal. Trust in the LORD
with all your might and you will see the REAL glory of God come down
on Without Walls.

Those churches such as the White's
that get a tax exempt status must abide by the laws that they agreed
to when the set up their church corporation. If we are following
the example of Jesus, we see that even he paid a temple tax. The
church is not to be a corporation. The church is the individual -
the eclesia or the called out ones. Called out of the world and
doing worldly things like setting up corporations. This is contrary
to Christ or anti christ. And for those that equate U.S.
fundamentalist christians with Islamist - I don't hear a daily rant
of death to anyone from that group of christians. I don't hear of
them going out and chopping heads off. I don't hear of them
kidnapping or committing acts of terror. I hear repent from your
sins so that you can have a fuller life - an expression of real
love.

The Bible tells us the truth that in
the last days men (and women) will be lovers of self. 2 Timothy
3:1-5. It also warns us that there will be Apostacy, or a "falling
away" 2 Thesselonians 2:3 and it is all happening before our eyes.
We are seeing even the very elect be deceived and turning people in
the wrong direction. Matthew 7:13 "Go in through the narrow gate.
For the gate is wide and the road is spacious that leads to
destruction, and many people are entering by it." I pray that there
will still be those who find Jesus Christ as the way to eternal life
and not get caught up in all the weird works and false doctrines.
Blessings, Roxy

Churches are already tax-exempt
without being 501c3 - many don't know this but it is contained in
the IRS laws.
Also, scriptures say "you shall know them by their fruit..." I think
Paula and Randy's fruit is quite evident here, it is rotten!

Wow!
I guess we don't need an investigation, a trial,jury, or judge, the
verdict against the Whites are already in! Thank you people. You've
just saved our justice system a hunk of money. As for me, I'll go
along with Samuel (1 Samuel 15)and allow the church judges to
determine whether the Whites should be found guilty.

Oh, here's another thought. The church is guilty, you were
mistreated and cheated, Jesus isn't real, all the preachers are
crooks and the people in the church are hypocrites. Republicans
can't get elected without church donations. Christians are
imbecile's who can't think on their own and shouldn't be allowed to
voice their opinion about anything in public.

Ok. people, you win...you're right. Now-who will you blame for your
victimization? Who will now be responsible for your illegitmate
children, your drug habits, your unpaid bills, your wayward
children, your homeless dad, and your brother in prison? Who will
you now blame because you lost your home to the bank and your car to
the repossesor? When your democrat candidate finally convinces the
majority that they are the answer, yet, your life doesn't change,
then who will you blame for all of your sorrows?

Who paid for the church building? Not
the Whites. They sat, in study, under the Clarks, who also divorced
and attempted to sell thier church, Living Waters. I left when I
realized Pastor Randy intended to build his kingdom, and not God's.

No one has mentioned the two biggest
church frauds on this planet, Mike Murdock and Benny Hinn. They are
two of the biggest thieving things. The IRS and the FBI have had
interests in these two. So there are others besides the Whites.
Just remember their day with our heavenly father is coming and they
will NOT get past him. I would NOT want to be in their shoes for
NOTHING!!!